honourable friend, who continued pacing the cabin with the most determined perseverance, in conducting this war of words. The pleasingly persuasive voice of her Ladyship, delivering the manly sentiments of his Lordship, made no impression on the Cardinal. He would not submit to reason, nor his Lordship to any thing else: so that the lady was in a fair way of becoming soon as desirous to desist as Sir William had been before her, and for the same reason too, if Lord Nelson had not suddenly put an end to the argument, by observing that, since he found an Admiral was no match for a Cardinal in talking, he would try the effect of writing. He wrote, therefore, the following opinion, which he immediately delivered to Cardinal Ruffo:

"Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson, who arrived in the Bay of Naples on the 24th of June, with the British fleet, found a treaty entered into with the rebels; which, he is of opinion, ought not to be carried into execution, without the approbation of his Sicilian Majesty—the Earl of St. Vincent-Lord Keith."

The interview thus terminated. Nelson had not in view any design of punishing the rebels he was so anxious to secure; his wish extended only to the safe custody of them until the King's pleasure should be known, and in this at length the Cardinal acquiesced. On the 27th of June, therefore, the principal rebels were received on board the several ships of the British squadron, and the remainder in polacres under their care, when Captain Troubridge was directed to land with troops in Naples, and cut down "the infamous Tree of Anarchy," which was done, and it was burnt before the King's palace.

Cardinal Ruffo, Vicar-General of the Royalists, was statesman, prelate, and general. He raised a large army of Royalists in the provinces by the powerful operation of the Catholic cause, and he headed in person what was called the Christian army. Nelson had a bad opinion of the Cardinal, and he wrote to Earl Spencer, August 1, 1799, the day on which Naples was entirely liberated from French anarchy, and the anniversary of the Battle of the Nile, that he had received a letter from General Sir John Acton, which gave ' Vol. ii. p. 100.

reasons for continuing him at the head of affairs. "My opinion of him," he says, "has never altered. He is now only Lieutenant-General of the kingdom; with a Council of eight, without whose consent nothing is valid: but, we know, the head of every board must have weight. This man must soon be removed; for all about him have been, and are, so corrupt, that there is nothing which may not be bought. Acton and Belmonte seem to me the only uncorrupted men in the kingdom." Lord Nelson used to call Ruffo, "The Great Devil, who commanded the Christian army." On the 16th of August he wrote to Rear-Admiral Duckworth, saying: "In Naples every thing is quiet; but the Cardinal appears to be working mischief against the King, and in support of the nobles: sooner or later he must be removed, for his bad conduct." M. de Gravière says of Ruffo that he was the son of a Calabrian baron, had been Apostolic Treasurer to Pope Pius VI., and had so scandalized Rome by his amours and prodigality, that the Pope, to get rid of him, made him a Cardinal. Acton fearing him, had named him Vicar-General of the kingdom, hoping that the King would ruin him by entrusting the Calabrian expedition to his guidance.1

The repudiation of the Treaty of Capitulation for the surrender of the castles of Nuovo and Uovo, has been considered as an unwarrantable and unjustifiable exercise of authority. Nelson's position was very peculiar, and perhaps his only justification is to be found in the authority vested in him as Commander-in-chief of the Sicilian navy. That he was vested with extraordinary, if not unlimited powers by the King of Naples, at whose urgent entreaty he had then come to Naples, cannot be doubted-but the precise nature and extent of these have never been stated. Sir N. Harris Nicolas has, however, quoted from the Diary of Miss Knight, to shew that Lord Nelson had a commission from the King, and the letter of Ferdinand to Nelson in the possession of the Right Hon. John Wilson Croker, a translation of which is given by Sir Harris Nicolas in his Dispatches and Letters (Vol. iii. p. 491. Appendix,) tends to shew the entire trust

Plunkett's Last Naval War, Vol. ii. p. 39. Ruffo celebrated mass in the Church of San Januarius upon the entry of Joseph Buonaparte into Naples, Feb. He died at Naples, Dec. 13, 1827, in the 83rd year of his age.

16, 1806.

reposed in Nelson by the King, and his authority to "employ actual and powerful force, to bring efficiently to their duty the obstinate oppressors of my (Neapolitan) people, and to extirpate, as is urgent, that nest of malefactors, you will be obliged to put into execution every means which may best tend to obtain that necessary end."

That neither the King, nor the Queen, nor the Prime Minister Acton, were satisfied with the treaty, or disposed to admit the conditions of it, is apparent from the letter of her Majesty, of the 25th June,1 in which the terms thought proper on the occasion are very distinctly stated; and as this letter was written at Palermo, after having received intelligence of a Treaty having been entered into, it is certainly clear that Ruffo was not authorized by the King to treat definitively with the rebels. The Treaty, however, having been consented to, and subscribed by, the Vicar-General of Naples, the Russian, Turkish, and British Commanders, who may be conceived by those who were in possession of the Castles, to have been duly authorized to enter into such an engagement, the propriety of Nelson's repudiation of it may fairly be questioned.

Nelson's conduct and acts, it must be observed, met with the unqualified approval of the King, which was marked in the most decisive manner on the 13th of August, by creating him Duke of Bronté,2 with an estate attached to it of the value of £3000. per annum.

On the 15th of August Nelson wrote to his father from Palermo:

"My dear Father,

"His Sicilian Majesty having created me a Duke, by the title of Bronté, to which he has attached a feud of, it is said, about £3000. a year, to be at my disposal, I shall certainly not omit this opportunity of being useful to my family, always reserving a right to the possessor, of leaving one-third of the income for the payment of legacies. It shall first go to you,

See page 233, ante.

2 The Patent is printed in the Appendix to Vol. iii. Dispatches and Letters. Nelson received his Sovereign's permission to accept the dignity on the 9th of Jan. 1801.

my dear father, and in succession to my elder brother, and children male, William the same, Mrs. Bolton's boys, Mrs. Matcham's, and my nearest relations. For your natural life, the estate shall be taxed with £500. a year, but this is not to be drawn into a precedent, that the next heir may expect it. No, my honoured father, receive this small tribute as a mark of gratitude to the best of parents from his most dutiful son,

"NELSON."1

Although Nelson was created Duke of Bronté, he for a long time held out from receiving this reward for his services. For two or three days he withstood the entreaties of Sir William and Lady Hamilton to accept such elevated dignity, and the large emoluments annexed to it, fearful lest the purity of his motives should become matter of suspicion. At the solicitation of the Queen, however, aided by the powerful persuasion of Lady Hamilton, he agreed to receive the honour and aggrandizement, the bestowal of which certainly reflected much credit on the Sovereign. An affectionate letter accompanied this well earned and splendid reward, and a letter also from the Prince de Luzzi, acquainting him of his creation as Duke of Bronté in Sicily. To the King and to the Prince de Luzzi Nelson replied in appropriate expressions of gratitude. The Queen had, upon the return of Lady Hamilton to Palermo, presented her with a rich gold chain, with a miniature of herself set in diamonds, with the motto "Eterna Gratitudine," and she now made further presents, which were conveyed to her house whilst she was at the palace with the Queen. They consisted of two coach loads of magnificent dresses, a richly jewelled picture of the King of the value of 1000 guineas, and another of the same value for Sir William Hamilton. The presents on this occasion to the Ambassador and his lady were valued at 6000 guineas. The King made various presents also to Nelson's officers: to Captain Hope for having embarked his Majesty and the Prince Royal in his barge on the night of December 21, 1798, a valuable diamond ring; and rings and snuff-boxes

From an Autograph in the possession of James Young, Esq. of Wells in Norfolk, printed in Dispatches and Letters, Vol. iii. p. 441.

were distributed to others by Nelson at the King's request. Those to Captain Hood,1 Captain Troubridge, and Captain Hardy, were of great elegance and value.

1 Captain Samuel Hood was born in November, 1762. He was second cousin to Lords Hood and Bridport, and maintained the naval distinction of his family. He entered the service as Midshipman, when 14 years of age, under the protection of his relative, Lord Hood, and was in the battle between Admiral Keppel and the Count D'Orvilliers in 1778. He acted as Lieutenant on board Lord Hood's ship, the Barfleur, and went to the West Indies in 1780, remaining there until 1782. During this period he was in the action with Count de Grasse, off Martinique, in that of the Chesapeake also, and in the actions between the two fleets at St. Kitt's on the 25th and 26th January, 1782. After these actions, he was promoted to the rank of Commander. Although appointed to the Renard, he preferred being as a volunteer for active service on board the Barfleur, and was in the celebrated actions of the 9th and 12th April, 1782. He was likewise at the capture of the French squadron in the Mona Passage. Preliminaries of peace being signed, Captain Hood visited France, and remained there until 1785, when, upon his return, he was appointed to survey the coasts and harbours on the Halifax station. In 1788, he was made Post Captain, and he returned from Halifax in the following year. In 1790 he was appointed to the Juno, and proceeded to Jamaica and highly distinguished himself by his humane exertions in saving three men from shipwreck. In this exercise he incurred great danger, and the House of Assembly voted to him a sword of the value of 100 guineas as an approval of his noble conduct. In 1793, upon the breaking out of the war, Captain Hood was ordered to the Mediterranean, and was dispatched to Malta, and upon his return to Toulon, not being acquainted with the evacuation of that place, had a very narrow escape from the enemy. He was at the reduction of Corsica, and distinguished himself under the division commanded by Commodore Linzee. He was also at the taking of Bastia and Calvi. He was one of the brave crew in the attack of Santa Cruz, and with Captain Troubridge in that town, and took the extraordinary message to the Governor by which the British obtained their release. In 1798, Captain Hood commanded the Zealous, was the first officer to descry the French fleet at Aboukir, and shared in the glories of the Battle of the Nile. For his services he received the thanks of Parliament, and a sword from the City of London. Nelson, after the Battle of the Nile, left Hood with the command of a squadron on the coast of Egypt. With this he blockaded Alexandria, performed many important services, and received from the Grand Signior a handsome snuffbox set with diamonds. In 1798, as above stated, he was with Nelson aiding in the flight of the Royal family of Naples, and in the following year was at Palermo. He had the charge of the Castel Nuovo, and maintained the quiet of Naples whilst St. Elmo was being besieged. The King of Naples conferred the Order of St. Ferdinand and Merit upon him, and presented him with a snuff-box set with diamonds. In 1800, Sir Samuel Hood was appointed to the Courageux, 74 guns, and was in the Channel fleet. He afterwards commanded the Venerable, and escorted a valuable fleet of East Indiamen beyond the Cape de Verdes. He afterwards joined Sir James Saumarez, and was at the battle off Algeziras. Of his exertions on this occasion, Sir James Saumarez wrote: " Captain Hood's merits are held in too high estimation to receive additional lustre from any praises I can bestow; but I only do justice to my own feelings when I observe, that in no in